Basel ii Accord Sections 92 to 108

C. Implementation considerations
1. The mapping process
 
92. Supervisors will be responsible for assigning eligible ECAIs’ assessments to the risk
weights available under the standardised risk weighting framework, i.e. deciding which
assessment categories correspond to which risk weights.
 
The mapping process should be objective and should result in a risk weight assignment consistent with that of the level of credit risk reflected in the tables above. It should cover the full spectrum of risk weights.
 
93. When conducting such a mapping process, factors that supervisors should assess
include, among others, the size and scope of the pool of issuers that each ECAI covers, the
range and meaning of the assessments that it assigns, and the definition of default used by
the ECAI. In order to promote a more consistent mapping of assessments into the available
risk weights and help supervisors in conducting such a process, Annex 2 provides guidance
as to how such a mapping process may be conducted.
 
94. Banks must use the chosen ECAIs and their ratings consistently for each type of
claim, for both risk weighting and risk management purposes. Banks will not be allowed to
“cherry-pick” the assessments provided by different ECAIs.
 
95. Banks must disclose ECAIs that they use for the risk weighting of their assets by
type of claims, the risk weights associated with the particular rating grades as determined by
supervisors through the mapping process as well as the aggregated risk-weighted assets for
each risk weight based on the assessments of each eligible ECAI.
 
2. Multiple assessments
 
96. If there is only one assessment by an ECAI chosen by a bank for a particular claim,
that assessment should be used to determine the risk weight of the claim.
 
97. If there are two assessments by ECAIs chosen by a bank which map into different
risk weights, the higher risk weight will be applied.
 
98. If there are three or more assessments with different risk weights, the assessments
corresponding to the two lowest risk weights should be referred to and the higher of those
two risk weights will be applied.
 
3. Issuer versus issues assessment
 
99. Where a bank invests in a particular issue that has an issue-specific assessment,
the risk weight of the claim will be based on this assessment. Where the bank’s claim is not
an investment in a specific assessed issue, the following general principles apply.
 
*In circumstances where the borrower has a specific assessment for an issued debt
— but the bank’s claim is not an investment in this particular debt — a high quality
credit assessment (one which maps into a risk weight lower than that which applies
to an unrated claim) on that specific debt may only be applied to the bank’s
unassessed claim if this claim ranks pari passu or senior to the claim with an
assessment in all respects. If not, the credit assessment cannot be used and the unassessed claim will receive the risk weight for unrated claims.
 
* In circumstances where the borrower has an issuer assessment, this assessment
typically applies to senior unsecured claims on that issuer. Consequently, only
senior claims on that issuer will benefit from a high quality issuer assessment. Other
unassessed claims of a highly assessed issuer will be treated as unrated. If either
the issuer or a single issue has a low quality assessment (mapping into a risk weight
equal to or higher than that which applies to unrated claims), an unassessed claim
on the same counterparty will be assigned the same risk weight as is applicable to
the low quality assessment.
 
100. Whether the bank intends to rely on an issuer- or an issue-specific assessment, the
assessment must take into account and reflect the entire amount of credit risk exposure the
bank has with regard to all payments owed to it.(34)
 
(34) For example, if a bank is owed both principal and interest, the assessment must fully take into account and reflect the credit risk associated with repayment of both principal and interest.
 
101. In order to avoid any double counting of credit enhancement factors, no supervisory
recognition of credit risk mitigation techniques will be taken into account if the credit
enhancement is already reflected in the issue specific rating (see paragraph 114).
 
4. Domestic currency and foreign currency assessments
 
102. Where unrated exposures are risk weighted based on the rating of an equivalent
exposure to that borrower, the general rule is that foreign currency ratings would be used for
exposures in foreign currency. Domestic currency ratings, if separate, would only be used to
risk weight claims denominated in the domestic currency.(35)
 
(35) However, when an exposure arises through a bank’s participation in a loan that has been extended, or has been guaranteed against convertibility and transfer risk, by certain MDBs, its convertibility and transfer risk can be considered by national supervisory authorities to be effectively mitigated.
 
To qualify, MDBs must have preferred creditor status recognised in the market and be included in footnote 24. In such cases, for risk weighting purposes, the borrower’s domestic currency rating may be used instead of its foreign currency rating.
 
In the case of a guarantee against convertibility and transfer risk, the local currency rating can be used only for the portion that has been guaranteed. The portion of the loan not benefiting from such a guarantee will be risk-weighted based on the foreign currency rating.
 
5. Short-term/long-term assessments
 
103. For risk-weighting purposes, short-term assessments are deemed to be issuespecific.
They can only be used to derive risk weights for claims arising from the rated facility.
They cannot be generalised to other short-term claims, except under the conditions of
paragraph 105.
 
In no event can a short-term rating be used to support a risk weight for an unrated long-term claim. Short-term assessments may only be used for short-term claims against banks and corporates. The table below provides a framework for banks’ exposures to specific short-term facilities, such as a particular issuance of commercial paper:
 
 
(36) The notations follow the methodology used by Standard & Poor’s and by Moody’s Investors Service. The A-1 rating of Standard & Poor’s includes both A-1+ and A-1-.
 
(37) This category includes all non-prime and B or C ratings.
 
104. If a short-term rated facility attracts a 50% risk-weight, unrated short-term claims
cannot attract a risk weight lower than 100%.
 
If an issuer has a short-term facility with an assessment that warrants a risk weight of 150%, all unrated claims, whether long-term or short-term, should also receive a 150% risk weight, unless the bank uses recognised credit risk mitigation techniques for such claims.
 
105. In cases where national supervisors have decided to apply option 2 under the
standardised approach to short term interbank claims to banks in their jurisdiction, the interaction with specific short-term assessments is expected to be the following:
 
The general preferential treatment for short-term claims, as defined under
paragraphs 62 and 64, applies to all claims on banks of up to three months original
maturity when there is no specific short-term claim assessment.
 
When there is a short-term assessment and such an assessment maps into a risk
weight that is more favourable (i.e. lower) or identical to that derived from the
general preferential treatment, the short-term assessment should be used for the
specific claim only. Other short-term claims would benefit from the general
preferential treatment.
 
When a specific short-term assessment for a short term claim on a bank maps into a
less favourable (higher) risk weight, the general short-term preferential treatment for
interbank claims cannot be used. All unrated short-term claims should receive the
same risk weighting as that implied by the specific short-term assessment.
 
106. When a short-term assessment is to be used, the institution making the assessment
needs to meet all of the eligibility criteria for recognising ECAIs as presented in paragraph 91 in terms of its short-term assessment.
 
6. Level of application of the assessment
 
107. External assessments for one entity within a corporate group cannot be used to risk
weight other entities within the same group.
 
7. Unsolicited ratings
 
108. As a general rule, banks should use solicited ratings from eligible ECAIs. National
supervisory authorities may, however, allow banks to use unsolicited ratings in the same way
as solicited ratings.
 
However, there may be the potential for ECAIs to use unsolicited ratings to put pressure on entities to obtain solicited ratings. Such behaviour, when identified, should cause supervisors to consider whether to continue recognising such ECAIs as eligible for capital adequacy purposes.
  
 

 

 

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